I was diagnosed with BC on Monday 8th December and had masectomy on 19th. Not doing too bad, well apart from the fact that 3 days after my surgery I lost my mum. Since losing Mum I haven’t really had a chance to think about how I feel about my own particular situation. Mum’s funeral was yesterday, now I guess I need to start thinking about what’s happening to me. I have to go back on 12th Jan to see if it has spread, and although fingers crossed it hasn’t, I have been told that I will have to have Chemo. I have read the books and have done alot of research but there is somthing niggling me. I plan to go to Barbados with my family in August. Although my Doctor said that it would be fine and that I would probably need the break, I am still a little concerned that there is a small chance that I cannot go, and I don’t want to pay off the holiday until I know for sure, plus I am not sure where to look for travel insurance , as I have been told I would need a different kind , So can anyone tell me, if they went abroad whilst having chemo, ( I also read that I would need to stay out of the sun, Barbados is very hot so am not sure how that would work, does this mean I can’t go swimming, or take tours, all these things had been planned with the kids and now I am scared I won’t be able to do half these things, if anyone has been abroad could you recommend a travel insurance company. Sorry to ramble all this has actually just come out of nowhere ha ha ha xxx
Hi Carol…so sorry about your Mum…it must make all this even harder for you…I hope you at least get some good news on the 12th…I had a holiday dilemma in December when I wasn’t sure I was going to get to go to Florida…in the end my oncologist said it would probably do me good to go before my chemo started…I went and managed to forget all about cancer for a couple of weeks which was good…started my chemo 2 days before Christmas…I found that all the travel insurance companies would either charge more than the holiday cost to cover cancer…or they’d insure me for everything else but exclude the breast cancer…I went for the second option with Norwich Union…not sure if it would be different for you with you going during chemo…take care of yourself Carol x
If you are going away in August I would think that the chemo would have finished by then. I had the maximum that could be safely given which was 8 cycles and lasted just under 6 months. If you have already had surgery I think the norm is to give 6 cycles( I had my chemo before surgery and it could be seen that the chemo was having a dramatic effect on my tumour so my oncologist asked me to stay on chemo for longer).
What a dreadful time you are having. The day I was diagnosed my husband’s dad died without any warning and no illness. That was a massive shock. I hope you have some good news and I am sure your oncologist will tell you how long your chemo will last for so you will be in a better position to make plans.
So sorry to hear about you losing your mum so soon after dx. I lost my mum nearly two years ago (anniversary on 14th), then was dx three weeks later. It is so hard to get your head around everything when two such major events happen one after the other like that.
I think you need to get your doctor’s advice about Barbados. You certainly need to stay out of the sun during chemotherapy, as it will make your skin more sensitive. Also, this applies to anywhere you have radiotherapy.
If you search this site for travel insurance, you will find several threads that recommend insurers for bc.